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Adoption law allows for inclusion, protects beliefs

John Ingle, Times Record News
Published 3:09 p.m. CT June 16, 2017

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District 69 Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, recently filed HB 1323, also called the "Tim Tebow Bill," which seeks equal opportunity for home-schooled students to participate in UIL activities.(Photo: Times Record News file)Buy Photo

Wichita Falls Rep. James Frank said Friday more people are needed in the child welfare system to better serve Texas children, and a bill he authored that was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott is designed to do that.

Critics, on the other hand, have said the new law that becomes effective Sept. 1 lets adoption agencies pick and choose services or to whom they will adopt children, proclaiming it will allow people to use "religion as a weapon."

"We called it Freedom to Serve Children," Frank said of House Bill 3859. "The intent is to get as many people as possible working in the child welfare area. It doesn't exclude anybody, but it does protect some people who have been targeted for there religious beliefs, so it was to try to protect those people and make sure they would continue or expand in child welfare."

The Wichita Falls Republican said some media have focused on the sensational with stories about how the law would keep members of the LGBTQ community from adopting children, as well as Jewish and Muslim people. He said the law does the opposite in that it provides more protections for all to make decisions based on their beliefs.

The law reads, "It is the intent of the legislature to maintain a diverse network of service providers that offer a range of foster capacity options and that accommodate children from various cultural backgrounds. To that end, the legislature expects reasonable accommodations to be made by the state to allow people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs to be a part of meeting the needs of children in the child welfare system. Decisions regarding the placement of children shall continue to be made in the best interest of the child, including which person is best able to provide for the child ’s physical, psychological, and emotional needs and development."

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD, in a statement disagreed with the intent of the law.

"Lawmakers used religion as a weapon to pass a bill that not only harms qualified candidates who want to start families, but children. This law was never about the best interests of Texans or of children, but about forwarding a political agenda to codify the permission to discriminate against LGBTQ Texans into state law. Discrimination has won in Texas, and it saddens me that a child can now be denied the chance to live with a deserving family simply because they are LGBTQ."

While people working in the child welfare will have protection to make religious belief-based decisions, the focus still remains on caring for the children in the system. Foster parents or adoption agencies must refer children to another organization who will meet their needs for the benefit of children.

When it comes to diverse groups working within the system, Frank said he hopes to see more getting involved to create the broad network that is needed in the state to accommodate all children and people wanting to adopt. He said he has met with a variety of people to make sure that they have never had trouble getting certified based on religious preference or lifestyle, and none told him there was difficulty.

"I want to try to make sure that's easy to do, and we put protections in there to make sure referrals are being made and make sure that (Child Protective Services) makes sure LGBT couples can get trained," he said. "In fairness, there's many of them who do a very good job in the foster care system and I don't want those folks excluded. But also I don't want folks excluded simply because of a belief either about abortion or same-sex marriage; I don't want them excluded or told you don't matter because you happen to believe in something that I don't agree with."

Frank said he and others who supported the bill should see a much-needed increase in fosters homes by the end of the year, creating an excess instead of a shortage. He said that is ultimately what the law is about and determine if it has been a success.